Birthday of the Bab

In the year 1844, a man and descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, 25 years of age made a pilgrimage to Mecca and publicly declared as he stood against the Ka'bah and laid hold of the ring on its door and repeated three times:

"I am that Qu'aim whose advent you have been waiting"
"I am that Qu'aim whose advent you have been waiting"
"I am that Qu'aim whose advent you have been waiting"

The Bab's mission was to teach the Word of God and to prepare the hearts and souls of men for the promised Qayy'um, the Promised One of all religions who was later known as Baha'u'llah. The Bab's name means the "Gate" and his mission of only 6 years ended in his own martyrdom and many thousands of his followers.

It was the Bab for whom we remembered on Thursday evening October 19th, 2005 commemorating his birthday of October 20, 1819. We invited the community, shared dessert and read selections of prayers and writings. Through all of the celebration, I could not keep my mind off the fact that the Bab was so young during his ministry. Young, powerful, spreading a message that he was killed for and motivated only by a path he did not choose. I do think of his birthday, his life and his announcement in the western part of Saudi Arabia publicly announcing to all that he existed and he was expected and for whom many awaited for was finally here.

Its fascinating, that when you read all the stories of each of the Messengers of God, no one except a small few among their peers believed and each Messenger suffered, were persecuted by the powerful who wanted to quash their message, to void their existence, to erase their memory. Only when years passed, it became obvious that the message they brought is and was relevant, timeless and caused the emergence of a shift in humanity's history.

So this year I am glad I took the day off, celebrated with friends, thought about the birth of the Bab, and thought about his relevance in human history.

To gain more perspective on the actual teachings of Baha'u'llah, who the Bab prepared for, check out www.hillsboroughbahai.org...




Peace.